It's been a wild past week. Since the last post, I was headed to New York for signings and to attend the 64th annual Edgar Awards. I got to catch up with a lot of friends including Otto Penzler at the Mysterious Bookshop (see photo) and ate some terrific food at the Katz and Carnegie delis. Also seems I was strolling through Time Square just about the time Faisal Shahzad was making a dry run to park that SUV.

My congratulations to Otto for winning best critical work for The Lineup and to Luis Alberto Urrea for his work in Phoenix Noir.


From NYC, there it was a fast flight back down South to the Alabama Writers Symposium. Year after year, these folks always make me feel so welcome in the hometown of Harper Lee. Here I am with Bert Hitchcock presenting me with a gift for being their keynote speaker.

I was also extremely impressed with a new Southern bookstore on the scene -- Beehive Books. After visiting the store, I'm confident this is going to become one of the great literary stops in the South.

After a brief rest back in Oxford, I'm headed down to one of my other favorite bookstores tonight for a reading. I'll be visiting my old friends Jamie and Kelly Kornegay owners of Turnrow Books, situated right in the heart of Greenwood.

Only two stops left on the INFAMOUS tour -- Big Sleep Books in St. Louis on May 15th and Full Circle Books in Oklahoma City on May 16th. The good folks at Putnam thought it was fitting that we wrap the tour where it all began for George and Kathryn Kelly. I hope to have some photos posted of the Urschel mansion where the kidnapping took place and my travels on Route 66. More soon, including a link to a short documentary filmed by my buddy Thad Lee about the Kellys.

-- Ace